It was supposed to be a sunrise shoot over Nairobi. Heavy cloud cover delivered a brighter plan.

At 6am last Saturday 18th April, I was at Uhuru Park’s view point of the Nairobi skyline with the high hopes of capturing a glorious sunrise over the Kenyan capital : golden hues shining down from the skies, funnels of light reflected from one glass-clad skyscraper to another, creating a symphony of illuminated streaks Pantone would have a challenge reproducing.

A Heavy Cloud Convention instead delivered muted tones which I still got to photograph, shooting a 1-hour plus time lapse of cloud movements, and this 23-image panorama at the end of it all.

As I packed my bags, a group of young men who had been quietly watching me click away for over an hour asked if I could take their photos.

I took this as an opportunity to know them better while honouring their request.

Julius is 20 and would like to see people’s dress sense improve when he becomes a fashion designer.

Esege is also 20, and adores Khaligraph. He’d like to be a musician.

Joshua insisted I address him as DJ Josh. He is 19. His dreams are valid.

Stephen is 56. He would like to improve Kenya’s food security as a farmer.

Dickson is 18 and would like to be a musician.

Musa is 20 and would like to work in beauty.

Covid-19 has not only forced them to wear masks at all times, it has affected their sources of income. Before social distancing rules, they took out the trash and helped with general cleanliness at several restaurants in Nairobi. In the evenings, they guided motorists parking in Nairobi’s CBD, which they can’t any more because of the 7pm to 5am curfew.

I must confess I did have concerns for my personal and equipment safety at first. But once I put that aside and freely interacted with them, I quickly realised that these guys are no different from me – hoping for a brighter day when life can return to normal, each of us playing our part in stopping the spread of Coronavirus.

I plan to visit them again this week to deliver prints of their portraits.